Seahawks Buy or Sell: Adams thriving, CB Woolen a star, sack leader
Aug 10, 2022, 10:00 AM
Steelers WR Ray-Ray McCloud rushes against Seahawks SS Jamal Adams during the third quarter at Heinz Field. (Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
(Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
The Seahawks are just days away from Saturday’s preseason opener in Pittsburgh and are roughly a month away from Week 1 of the regular season.
Huard: Geno has ‘equity’ with Seahawks, so Lock must ‘force the decision’
As such, how about figuring out which key Seahawks storylines both Mike Salk and Brock Huard are buying and selling not just for 2022, but the long-term future of the franchise?
Here’s what those two had to say during Tuesday’s Mike Salk Show on Seattle Sports 710 AM.
Will Jamal Adams thrive in Clint Hurtt’s defense?
It’s been an up-and-down start to Jamal Adams’ Seahawks tenure as he set an NFL record for sacks by a defensive back in 2020 but has had some issues in coverage and has struggled with injuries, missing nine games combined over his two seasons with Seattle.
The Seahawks have a new defensive play-caller in Clint Hurtt this year, and Seattle is shifting to a 3-4 base defense after years of the team running 4-3.
So, will Seattle’s new-look defense allow Adams to thrive? For this first buy or sell question, Brock and Salk answered the question for each other.
Salk, posing as Huard, was selling that idea.
“Jamal Adams is always going to be hurt. Unfortunately he doesn’t cover as well as he needs to, his body has been beat up. He constantly needs to go into traffic in order to bring out the best in him, and that has taken a toll on his body, which isn’t big enough to handle it. Once you start getting hurt in the NFL, that generally continues.”
And Huard (partially) as Salk: “Jamal Adams will be better in this system than he was with (former Seahawks defensive coordinator) Ken Norton … He’s got to be going forward. And there was a little sprinkle of that in the scrimmage on Saturday. At times he was playing almost a weakside linebacker position. They’re going to be a little more innovative. They brought new voices in there, they brought a new scheme and their new creativity in there. It does stink that he’s gonna have to wear a cast because that fused finger broke … I am selling that he will have some breakout career year, but I am buying he will be better than he’s been the last couple (seasons).”
Tariq Woolen: Seattle’s biggest 2022 draft star?
The Seahawks drafted a physical freak in UTSA’s Tariq Woolen, a converted receiver who stands 6 foot 4 and ran the 40-yard dash in a ridiculous 4.26 seconds.
Woolen was one of the stars of Seattle’s mock game Saturday, so could he wind up being the biggest star of this nine-man draft class?
That Woolen Wingspan 🤯 @_Tariqwoolen #SeahawkCamp x @Boeing pic.twitter.com/hFMoz6vmwq
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 7, 2022
“I’m selling on that,” Huard said. “It’s too hard to project corners.”
Salk also “unfortunately” sold on the idea, as well.
“I don’t want to, though. I could certainly be convinced to buy into the hype around Tariq Woolen and certainly just the physical freakiness,” Salk said. “And I guess if I tried to talk myself into buying (someone to be this draft’s star), I’d have to say can you really be a star as a tackle? I mean two of the picks ahead of (Woolen) were tackles (Charles Cross and Abe Lucas). They can be really good players but I don’t know if they’re going to be stars.”
Salk added that the Seahawks have a few more intriguing rookies in pass rusher Boye Mafe, running back Ken Walker III and Woolen’s fellow cornerback Coby Bryant.
Darrell Taylor, team leader in sacks?
Darrell Taylor wasn’t technically a rookie last year, but 2021 was the 2020 second-round pick’s first NFL season as he missed all of the year before with a leg injury. He finished second on the Seahawks in sacks in 2021 and could be in line for another big year as an outside linebacker/pass rusher in Seattle’s new 3-4 defense.
Could he lead the team in sacks this year?
“I’m buying. Yeah, give me that,” Huard said, later adding, “It’s all about health. If he plays north of 15 games, he should have double-digit sacks. He’s that kind of explosive. He did it as a pretty raw player really as a rookie (in 2021) … Yeah, he’ll lead the team in sacks.”
“I’ll buy it, too,” Salk said. “… He seems like he’s ready to take that next step in Year 3, really Year 2 for him.”
Listen to the entire fourth hour of Tuesday’s Mike Salk Show at this link or in the player below.
